Bike Setup: Currently I have XTR rear and sram front, mavic 517s on XT hubs, rock shox judy sl, and an LX crank which will be replaced soon. Will be completely sram soon, and race face crank. And a Fox fork (I wish)

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Value Rating:

Submitted by
winterwarrior
a Cross Country Rider
from Canterbury, New Zealand

Great frame for the money. This bike has been used and abused, fast downhills, long XC trips and lately jumping. The frame is the best part of the bike, compact, solid. The finish and welds are still great after 3 years and many bailouts. A great frame to upgrade and jump - is set up for discs all round. Definite bonus.You can't go wrong with this bike for the price.

Did I mention that this is a PRICEPOINT ride? I bought this purely because it was on sale and it fit the hitch on the Burley Bike Trailer I pull the kids around in. In the course of 3 years I killed the following: Formula Rear hub (freehub nuked). Stem (pinch bolt stripped), Front rim (taco'd), Headset (partly my fault - no maintanence - but not sealed). I sh1tcanned the "K2 brand" pedals by Wellgo and put some proper SPuDs on it. The Deore (NOT LX, XT) derailleurs are J-U-N-K; The springs are totally inadequate to the job of shifting quickly, much less under any kind of load.

Don't get me wrong - I have used this bike HARD. It has borne my fat a$$ over hill and dale. I have enjoyed many spectacular crashes on this steed. I just got a '04 Ellsworth Id and this K2 is going to be revamped as a Singlespeed Disk hardtail. Fun fun fun.

High value for intial cost, lower overall because of nec. upgrades to cheapo failure parts.

Great bike. Great price. Light, climbs like a mountain goat. Nice componentry. Worthy of upgrades. I find the Noleen Mega Air shock a bit stiff. I weigh 200 lbs and run the shock at 160 psi. Bought a Topeak shock pump from the dealer who sold me the bike. Lowest measurable psi is 60. I would recommend waiting for shop to order the Noleen shock pump or trying a Schwinn pump that offers lower readings especially for riders who weigh 170 or less. I am considering adding an Avid mechanical disk brake to the front.

Strengths: The way it looks,price and the fact that they arent a dime a dozen.

Weaknesses: The cranks are begining to creek a little, remember to tighten them evey once in a while. My seat also twisted after a minor mishap.

Bottom Line:

The schwinn was my first bike and I have no complaints but it was time for an upgrade. My choices came down to the fisher or the k2. The k2 fit me better and I loved the way it looks so I bought it. The fork is great and I love the way she handles. The bike is light and has potential to be even lighter. My times droped immeadiatly on the trail and the bike gives me confidence to go faster. I firmly believe that you are getting equal performance as the higher priced bikes. All the components are good enough remember this is a sub 1000 dollar bike. The cranks are the only thing that annoys me. If your an intermediate rider looking for a ride this is the bike for you. As your skill increases the k2 will do you just fine.

Strengths: Everything on this bike is just perfect or near perfection. For the $650 I paid, there was NO better deal or bike. The Noleen mega air kicks @ss! Love it, heavier then SID, but perfect for me. The Avid brakes and levers are super strong and the TruVativ crank set is superlight.

Weaknesses: The seat HURTS! I bent the crap out of the rails already, took me one year to get used to it. Why didn't I replace it earlier???? Because I'm too lazy to readjust seat angle, and it was perfect. That's the only weakness, but a Flite Titanium, drop weight. Oh yeah, those K2 (wellgo) pedals are TERRIBLE (worst part) Can't stay in the pedals and no positive engagement feel.

Bottom Line:

bottom line? It's a hell of a deal and a hell of a bike. K2 really did a great job of balancing parts and quality into this bike. What else can you ask for the price? Shocks feel great, frame is nicely welded and looks good. Great parts. No mixing of parts. Great, just GREAT! Plus you ACTUALLY get 99% of a whole parts groupo. Well, I'm not fond of the wheels, but they're strong and worked out for me till I replaced them a year later with sealed cartride disc wheels. As I said about the parts, you get a avid lever and brakes setup. matching. Shimano Deore shifters, deore front and rear deraileurs. matching. Rare to match front and rear. the cassette is an Alivio though, HG50, but looks sharp, decently weighed, shifts good and the bottom bracket is also Alivio I think. But that's the only square taper BEFORE reaching spline. You get the super light square taper TruVativ cranks, so they had to put in the alivio bottom bracket. I replaced mine with an old school XTR square sealed cartridge, last year of manufacturing. So the BB and crank set is now about 15-20 grams over the spline hollowtech XTR. Not bad for a 100 buck set up. Got my 5 flaming corpses for value, 4 smoldering dead dudes for overall. The seat hurts my ass, I gotta take one for my stupidity. But it looks good!

Strengths: Frame and Fork design are well above the cost of this bike.I have found thru several other friends and riders that theNoleen fork is comparible to some of the top of the line after market forks.

Weaknesses: Weinman Rims

Bottom Line:

The bike off of the showroom floor was very impressive. Ifelt that the bike was the best bang for the buck buy I could find. Although I have made several upgrades I feel the component level when purchased was suffice it all workedwell together and never gave any problems. After the upgrades I now look forward to just hammering thru some ofthe tuffer trails here in Hawaii with no doubt the frame andfork setup beneath me will withstand all the riding I cando. Off the floor this bike is a great buy for any intermediate level rider looking for a well put together mountain bike.

Excellent product for the beginner how wants qaulity without spending a load of money or for the intermediate rider how wants to move up to a better bike. The forks are great, I have not had a problems with them as of yet. The components are good however, I've had a problem getting the derailer set up like i like them.

Strengths: Great frame, great shock, and great component selection. It has held up well minus the rear wheel. It got thrashed and had to be replaced. K2 was good about it they hooked me up with a xt disc ready hub.

Weaknesses: None that I have found excepr for the rear hub. I bought a new stem and tires. The tires suck and the bar ends are too big. The seat is a little hard and bent one time i landed hard. The fork slipped from the crown an eighth of and inch but k2 is sending me a 2001 shock.

Bottom Line:

This is a great bike for the money. I ride about 50 miles a week and thrash it every time. I've fliped a couple times but the bike has remained intacked. I would recommend this bike for someone who is looking in to buying their second bike which is what mine was. The overall appeal of this bike is awesome. It has great components and is well built only a few upgrades like the tires, stem and wheels and this is a great bike.

Strengths: *Great deal. *Upgradeable to disc brakes. *Comes with clipless pedals and a great fork.

Weaknesses: *Deore shifters and derailers, *maybe*. *Color: not a fan of red. *Tires are a little slick for Pacific Northwest winter riding.

Bottom Line:

This bike is a great buy. I can't believe the deal I got: $450 on end-of-season clearance sale.

The shock is very nice, except for the need for the pump. Oh well. Some say that the Deore components are sub-par, we'll see. Clipless pedals work great, especially for somone who hasn't been riding them long. And I agree with others that the tires are a little slick.

I got a medium frame size, being 5-9. It feels a little small, but I think it fits fine. If you are any taller than I am, go with a large.

So far, I'm really happy with the bike. People that should consider this bike: anyone making the move from a fully rigid bike, or an off-brand bike. Also a good buy for ANYONE if you can get it for the price that I did.

The bike hasn't given me any problems only the shock in the begining. The shock is beast and smooth when pressure is right for you. Design is goos with the frame and stuff. it also 27 speed and i be going fast as nutts and this is a bike you can easily show off in, so i REALLY recomend this bike, and if your interest look for the price because i got an awsome price, 500 dollars and that's how much the for kinda costs, so it a kick ass bike for the buck

The perfect bike for intermediate riders. Competitive stock bike, and can be easily upgraded to a very competitive bike. The fork is worth over half of the bike alone. Rims are weak, I taco'd one after a week on a dip in the trail and I have to true the rims nearly after every ride(I weigh 185 lbs). I also have bent the seat post. Neadless to say I am not easy on a bike, and I am very happy with the exception of the aforementioned items. I plan to upgrade the rims as soon as I get the cash.

Bike Setup: Stock except new no shock seatpost and getting a new fork.

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Submitted by
Joey
a Weekend Warrior
from Charlotte, NC

Date Reviewed: September 25, 2000

Strengths: ComponentsForkFrameWheels are good due to upgradability to disc brakes

Weaknesses: SaddleChain

Bottom Line:

If you are looking for OTHER than run-of-the-mill everyone has got one bike, than this is for you. K2 has put together a great mid level bike. The frame is very strong and the geometry of it fits my 6', 210lb body. The components are not top line but they are very durable. I broke the shimano chain first day out but it really wasn't the chains fault. Noleens mega air shock has got to be one of the simplist and plushest shock out there. Only draw back is you have to shell out 25 bucks or so for a shock pump. Other than that its is a great bike and even greater deal! I'll recommend a K2 anyday.

Bike Setup: Stock minus saddle and chain, I have upgraded to a sram chain and specialized body geo seat

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Submitted by
sanderson finley
a Weekend Warrior
from Atlanta

Date Reviewed: September 6, 2000

Strengths: Best fork on the market, and easy to adjust. great frame, light enough to race and bulletproof. Deore 9-speed, not the best obviously, but much better than crappy LX stuff. Geometry is perfect for aggressive riding. A real machine!!!

Weaknesses: brakes should be upgraded, rims and tires should be switched out when they go

Bottom Line:

the bottom line is this bike for the money is the best this year. yeah you can spend about $150 more for the trek 8000 or something comparable but then you have wake up and get on a bike that everybody and his mother has. This bike is a piece of equipment that can be ridden hard and long. May want to trick it a bit when you start blowing parts (brakes, rims), but for the money this bike is a MONSTER and the Noleen fork is just about scary!!! No complaints so far, completely happy. Saved Money, have a bike hardly anyone has, have the best fork on the market, and have a bike that I can ride through hell on.